SONGS OF MY SOUL

SONGS OF MY SOUL is the poetry of a Canadian teenager who took her own life, in November 1991, after struggling, for more than ten years, with what began as school phobia (also known as school refusal today) and progressed to social phobia, panic disorder and agoraphobia.

While victims of anxiety disorders have found SONGS OF MY SOUL to be an excellent resource for communicating the impact of their own fear, anxiety and panic to family and friends, young people - with and without anxiety disorders - also relate strongly to the book. The words come from the soul of an adolescent whose social anxiety prevented her from communicating with her peers during her lifetime. Since the posthumous publication of her poetry, her work has touched the hearts and souls of young and old alike twenty years later.

KIRSTIN'S STORY: no place to stand began as a therapeutic exercise for Kirstin's mother after her daughter's death. She wrote the earlier chapters then, but put it away for several years because the later ones were too hard to write. Eventually, finding that parents of children with anxiety disorders were still having difficulty in getting school personnel to understand the problem, she finished writing the book, hoping that people with responsibility in the welfare of children  whether as parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers  would read it at least once. Interview with Author on About.com Social Anxiety Disorder.

If you have an anxiety disorder and cannot make your friends and family understand the problem, this book will help them to understand that a person who has social phobia is a sensitive, creative and compassionate human being, too.

If you are having problems trying to understand why someone you love avoids you, avoids other people, the shopping mall, restaurants, banks - maybe, even, leaving the house, this book will help you to understand their avoidance behaviour instead of misunderstanding and taking it for arrogance, or worse.

... Her work demands to be read aloud, although it is enjoyable when read silently. Its appeal is so universal that it speaks with either male or female voice. Sometimes the words are a plaintive, fearful whisper and sometimes they cry out with strength - at all times, this selection of poems gives the reader a glimpse into the soul of a young woman whose concerns are universal. Her poetry is not the type of rhyming verse of repetitive tempo. It is dedicated more to the rhythm and melody of language, as often as not demanding pauses and skipped beats to create her song without music. Her words seem to echo in the mind.

Children were not supposed to have anxiety disorders in the 1980s, when Kirstin's story took place, and treatment consisted mainly of trying to track down the non-existent trauma that was causing the problem. Today, while we are, fortunately, more enlightened, misconceptions are still major hurdles when a child is referred for professional help. This book was written to help parents of children with anxiety disorders recognize what is happening when a child's behaviour changes and to let them know that they are not alone.